Commentary on the Sutra of the Father-Son Compendium: Seventy-Six

The Tathāgatagarbha Stores and Outputs Karmic Seeds Without Discriminative Thought

Actions rooted in greed, hatred, and delusion, whether major or minor, are all stored as karmic seeds within the Tathāgatagarbha. The Tathāgatagarbha makes no selections. It does not refrain from recording the karmic retribution for killing just because the act was committed by the five aggregates of the physical body it produced. The Tathāgatagarbha has no discriminative thought; it impartially records and preserves all actions. It does not favor the five aggregates it generates by storing only wholesome karma and not unwholesome karma. The Tathāgatagarbha lacks such mental inclinations; it is non-discriminative. As long as an action occurs, regardless of its scale, whether wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral, it stores them all equally.

For example, cooking is a neutral action. Once the skill of cooking is learned, it is stored as a seed. In the next life, when conditions arise, one will quickly know how to cook again. The same applies to driving skills and other abilities—whatever is learned is stored. Wholesome actions are stored, unwholesome actions are stored, and neutral actions are stored. Some people are born with certain talents because the karmic seeds were planted in a past life, making them naturally skilled. Others struggle to learn certain things no matter how hard they try because the karmic seeds were not stored in their past lives. Thus, each person’s innate abilities differ. Some children are born understanding music and can compose melodies; others are born knowing how to dance. Even some dogs dance skillfully because their abilities from past lives are stored in the Tathāgatagarbha. This is called habit-energy, habitual tendencies, karma, or seeds. Some people enjoyed scolding others in past lives; in this life, they are born knowing how to scold without being taught, and it is difficult to restrain them. This is the manifestation of karmic seeds; it is simply their ingrained habit.

All actions driven by greed and hatred fall under deluded actions. Failing to distinguish good from bad, right from wrong, or wholesome from unwholesome is also delusion. Delusion yields the karmic fruit of delusion. To counteract delusion, one must use the principles of the Dharma to dispel ignorance and delusion.

When the mind faculty (manas) contacts the six dusts (objects) of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, the consciousness manifests three types of mental inclinations: attraction (rāga), aversion (dveṣa), and delusion (moha). When the six sense faculties encounter the six sense objects, three types of feelings arise: pleasure, aversion, and neutral feeling. All these feelings are impermanent, illusory, and not to be clung to.